Supercharged Coolant Leak

So last week I got an over temp warning (luckily was pulling into the garage). Topped her off, checked for leaks and went on a drive to check for leaks afterwards. Nothing found.

The following week I checked out of curiosity and it was low again. Still not noticeable leaks besides very old coolant on the s/c coolant reservoir cap. Upon replacing the cap I noticed this discolored coolant (oil possibly?)

Any suggestions? Oil cooler? Head gasket?

 

The engine and intercooler systems are two completely isolated systems, I can't see how they'd possibly mix. The engine computer has no way to monitor the intercooler temp. It appears that there are two separate issues here. When you got the overtemp warning, where exactly did you add coolant? To the radiator overflow tank, the radiator, or the intercooler reservoir (pictured)?

Edit: Would you be able to dip a paper towel into the intercooler coolant to give us a better idea what it's actual color might be?

 

I filled the overflow tank.
First pictures from the radiator, second is from when I drained a bit to check and third is from the supercharger coolant reservoir (which comes out pink strangely)

 

Do you routinely store your Peruvian marching powder around the coolant fill port?

 

How the coolant in the reservoir looks must just be an illusion. Have you tried shining a flashlight straight down into it to see if it appears do be more of an expected color? When I've checked mine it has always looked pink, but I've also made sure the lighting was pretty good. The gasket on the reservoir may need to be replaced, I want to say that I've read where some owners have had their reservoirs crack. Certainly clean up the dried coolant and keep an eye on it.

At this point I would consider the S/C to probably be okay and you may want to focus on the engine coolant. Maybe leave your skid plate off for a while and check underneath the truck and in the engine compartment frequently for fresh coolant. There are a number of places where others have found leaks, in the intake valley, the water pump, the radiator side tanks. When I installed my S/C, my water bypass manifold leaked. If you have the means, a pressure test might be an option too. Kepp things clean and check often.

 

I think your cap for the resi is leaking based off of your photos. Not the the whole system. Is the gasket missing on the cap?

 

I replaced the cap with the one from SCOL today so should be my leak I’ve been chasing. As for what I mentioned above, I’m an IDIOT. It’s obviously not brown, chocolate milkshake in the res. It was giving me an illusion when looking down. I did what @Wynnded told me to do and put a paper towel in the res and yep, it’s pink. Just me being half dumb. Going to fill the res up in the morning and monitor for leaks.

 

Not at all, its how you learn.

 

The truth!

 

I would caution about filling it too full, I know that mine doesn't get too hot, but you might want to be sure there's room for expansion. I haven't read anything about exactly what the level should be nor how to measure it. If I remember, tomorrow I'll try to measure how far mine is from the top edge. Maybe others could do the same and we can find a range.

 

Sounds good! I’ll hold off

 

My 2010 was SC and I’d always have pink residue on the SC reservoir. I’d just wash it and top it off every so often. All the SC coolant does really is help cool the air. Like others said, the over temp warning would be the trucks coolant system, which is separate from the SC. Check your water pump for leaks. Mine went through 2 water pumps.

 

My SC coolant resi has that same leak. Idk if I've seen one that didn't leak. I have mine set so that the outlet and inlet ports are both covered for the resi when you look in. When it's running it bubbles a bit and forms a little whirlpool. As long as that isn't overflowing in that state it's good enough imo. The SC coolant is the same as the engine coolant (pink antifreeze), I thought I saw a question as to why it'd be pink. When it's running and foaming a bit you can more easily see the color of the coolant than when it's stagnant.

 

Oh, I suggested that I would go measure my reservoir level. Brb, gotta go clear all the snow off.....

Mine shows no evidence of "leaking". When I removed the cap, I noticed that the color looked a lot like @mechmatt138's being in the shade and all. LOL The level in mine also is above the inlet.

And off on a tangent for a moment here. I was thinking about this last evening and was wondering to myself, if the level were low enough, I'll bet that under hard acceleration (as well as gnarly off road), the coolant could slosh away from the outlet. A thought experiment for another time.

The level on mine is 1⅝" or 42mm below the top of the neck where the gasket seals. The truck is level and hasn't been run since yesterday, the ambient temperature is 32℉.

 

So after filling my overflow tank a day ago, I came out to find it empty again today. No leaks anywhere. Checked the sip stick to see if oil was getting in, nope. Can’t see a single leak under the truck when looking up with the skid plate off.

What could cause the reservoir to empty completely every other day with no signs of leaks?

Head gasket? I hope not! What’s everyone’s thinking?

 

The SC coolant is on its own loop, so I wouldn’t think head gasket or anything in the motor. Look for a schematic of the SC coolant loop and try to trace it from there.

 

What Tim said, are you talking engine coolant or SC coolant? They're not connected at all. If the supercharger resi is empty then either the internal radiator in the supercharger is leaking or a hose somewhere else is. If you're talking about the engine coolant, then there's a number of possibilities.

 

He mentioned that he's taken the skid off and was looking upwards, so I gather that he's eliminated the blower and is referring to the engine.

 

What @Wynnded said. Sorry I should’ve been more detailed.

As far as a head gasket, I’m not having any of the symptoms besides coolant disappearing into no where. Let’s hope not though. I rather change a water pump for sure

 

I misread and thought you were talking about the SC reservoir.

You don’t have white/grey exhaust smoke? Pink residue anywhere like around the water pump?

 

No white/grey exhaust smoke and all I see from the bottom is very old pink residue running down the lines that connect to the oil cooler. So whatever’s above that was leaking before but hasn’t leaked since then.